Three share lead in perfect conditions

David Toms, David Peoples and Joe Ogilvie shot 6-under-par 65s in near-perfect morning conditions today to share the 1st-round lead in the St. Jude Classic.

Peoples had his lowest round this year, but missed a chance to take sole possession of the lead when he three-putted from 15 feet on his final hole.

``I probably did peek up there and saw I was the only one at 7 under, and there you go,'' said Peoples, calling his bogey on No. 9 a brain cramp after needing only 24 putts through 17 holes.

Toms, who won twice last year, matched Peoples with seven birdies and a bogey. Ogilvie had six birdies.

Chris DiMarco, Notah Begay, Scott Hoch and Bob May opened with 66s on the TPC at Southwind course. Local favorite Loren Roberts, Russ Cochran, Joe Durant, Steve Pate and Carl Paulson shots 67s.

Only Hoch, May, Roberts and Cochran from the afternoon group cracked the leaderboard, with DiMarco saying the conditions were perfect in the morning.

``It wasn't too hot. No wind. The greens are just right: not too fast, not too slow,'' DiMarco said. ``It's very receptive out there.''

With greens soft to keep them from dying in the heat, players were able to shoot at the pins.

Peoples hit 15 greens in regulation and grabbed his share of the lead with four straight birdies to start his back nine. He started the string by running in a 50-foot uphill putt and wrapped it up with a couple of tap-in putts.

His round could have been even better, but he missed a 7-footer for birdie on No. 10 and a 6-footer on No. 13.

``If I can step my short game up a notch, I think I can get in position to get a little more nervous,'' he said.

Ogilvie benefitted from a change in his putting stance. The man who described himself as putting like Ray Charles worked on his stance last week and now stands with his eyes directly over the ball.

He started his day by running in an 8-footer for birdie on No. 10, his longest birdie putt on a day where he needed only 26 putts.

``It was center cut. It was a while that I've had the ball on line the entire time, hit the ball exactly where I wanted to, and it was big. That was a big confidence booster straight off the bat,'' said Ogilvie, who has missed the cut in four of his last eight tournaments.

Toms birdied four of his first seven holes before running into trouble on the par-4 17th. He hit a 4-iron off a cart path and settled for his only bogey.

After tying 16th last week in the U.S. Open where only Tiger Woods broke par, Toms said he benefitted from a quick session with his teacher to work a kink out of his swing.

A total of 54 players broke par Thursday, and Peoples said it wasn't a bad thing.

``I think people got enough of watching us make bogeys last week. I think they like watching guys stick shots in there close. It's fun for the gallery. It's fun for me,'' he said.

Divots: John Restino withdrew after cutting his hand when a club head snapped off on the 18th tee. ... John Daly, who withdrew from the U.S. Open after finishing with a 14 on his final hole of the first round, shot a 70. He used to live near the course. ... Bill Glasson recorded the first double-eagle of his career on the easiest hole on the course, the par-5, 527-yard No. 5. He used a driver to hole a 260-yard shot.

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